Key Takeaways
Boerse Stuttgart Digital is collaborating with DekaBank to provide crypto trading services to institutional clients. DekaBank secured a cryptocurrency custody license from German and European authorities last year. DekaBank, a major German bank with $395 billion in assets under management, is partnering with Boerse Stuttgart Digital to power its crypto trading services, as shared today by Boerse Stuttgart Group’s digital asset arm.
As part of the strategic collaboration, DekaBank is leveraging Boerse Stuttgart Digital’s modular and fully regulated infrastructure for digital assets. The partnership is focused on providing the bank’s clients with seamless and secure access to crypto trading. Boerse Stuttgart Digital expects it could help drive institutional adoption, especially in the European market. The move follows DekaBank’s launch of crypto trading and custody services for institutional clients, according to a Monday report from Bloomberg. The Frankfurt-based company has spent two years getting its infrastructure ready for launch and completing the paperwork. The Frankfurt-based company’s entry into the institutional crypto market comes after it secured a crypto custody license from Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) and the European Central Bank (ECB) by the end of 2024.
“We have the necessary experience, the required licenses, and a tested and ready-to-use infrastructure to support Sparkassen and our other institutional clients,” said DekaBank board member Martin Müller. Regulators are becoming more comfortable with crypto assets, at least in the context of institutional investment. It’s a different story for retail crypto trading. Within Germany’s Sparkassen network, to which DekaBank belongs, retail crypto strategy remains largely in dispute. Meanwhile, Volks- and Raiffeisenbanken, another large banking group in Germany, are planning to launch a retail crypto offering. DekaBank believes institutional investors possess the expertise, resources, and infrastructure to manage crypto investment risks professionally. The bank sees potential use cases where crypto investments could be strategically beneficial, such as portfolio diversification.